Northern Lights: These 12 States May See ‘Equinox Auroras' On Tuesday
The Northern Lights may be visible in northern skies from 11 northerly U.S. states on Tuesday, March 25, with turbulent solar wind expected to arrive at Earth.
SpaceWeather.com is reporting that a co-rotating interaction region — a transition zone between fast and slow-moving solar wind — is headed toward Earth. It's coming from a hole in the sun.
A G1-class geomagnetic storm is predicted by NOAA to commence from around 15:00 UTC (11:00 a.m. EDT) and increase in intensity to G2 from 21:00-00:00 (17:00-20:00 p.m. EDT), making the peak viewing conditions convenient for North America.
For context, the geomagnetic storm on May 10, 2024, was rated a G5, the most powerful since 2003.
NOAA's aurora viewline for Tuesday, March 25, 2025.
If there is auroral activity, U.S. states within NOAA's aurora viewline are in the best position to see it. Those 12 states are Washington, northern Idaho, northern Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Vermont and Maine. Regions closest to the border with Canada will have the highest possibility of seeing the aurora. Observers away from light pollution are likely to get the best views, helped by the fact that the moon is currently not rising until a few hours after midnight.
The surge of charged particles — which take a few days to reach Earth having left the sun — comes in the wake of a 'very strong' aurora prediction for Sunday that failed to materialize. Despite an intense display being predicted for Sunday, March 23, 2025, when it finally arrived it didn't spark the hoped-for geomagnetic storm. However, impressive auroras were seen in polar regions in the gathering light of dawn.
A coronal hole, as seen on March 25, 2025, byt NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory.
Late March and early April are traditionally seen as the end of the aurora-viewing season in polar regions, but it's very often the best time for nightly auroras. That's because of the Russell-McPherron effect, which explains that cracks open in Earth's magnetic field when the magnetic fields of Earth and the solar wind align, with more of the solar wind entering, causing geomagnetic storms. The result is that auroras are twice as likely around the equinoxes in late March and late September.
Earth's magnetic field is at its weakest in the weeks after the equinox.
Although space weather scientists can detect solar activity and CMEs leaving the sun, how fast these clouds of charged particles travel across the solar system is difficult to model precisely. It's only when the solar wind sweeps over detectors on NASA's DSCOVR and ACE satellites — situated about a million miles from Earth — that a roughly 30-minute warning can be given. Observers should check NOAA's 30-minute forecast and make use of the Glendale app.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
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